Editorial: Winter/Ձմեռ 2014

It seems that our common history could sometimes seem strangely…numerical. 301 marks the year of Christianity, 1915 is forever dripping blood red, 28s in May and 21s in September. We have recently passed 25: a quarter century ago, as Spitak awoke in horror.

Across the ocean, we held them close in our hearts. Our diasporan bonds were being strengthened with families from the ancestral home. We rallied and sent our love and support in aid packages and fundraisers. A break was ahead in the future and many a first steps were taken then.

As we reflect once again on the over-nuanced relationship between “home” and “away”, we realize that the time and the place for those emergency care packages (no matter how lovingly packed with care) have ended.

In the quarter century it has taken to just recently embrace that shift in mentality, we have seen a myriad of shifts and changes. There have been success stories and disappointments, first attempts and second chances. At the core of it all, the reality is that economics managed to trump even natural disasters with huge emigration numbers leaving untold shoes unfilled.

And now a new era, and now more than ever- a need for hope and optimism. Bold steps have never been more appropriate and the need to focus on action is imminent. Armenia needs to run on homegrown mechanics- this is something most of us would agree upon. Another point of accord should be a call to those of us with feet not firmly planted on ancestral soil, to offer ourselves in the truest selves. Perhaps it is a time to take the coaching off of the sidelines and into the team huddle. Perhaps a reflective look when we envision a role to be fulfilled? Perhaps a thought or two in the new year about a personal definition of “hands on”.

As we cast our gaze into 2014, only one thing is for certain: we have countless milestones ahead.